The Divestment Slate at Cal Berkeley: Framing the Issues

Do you support the nonviolent divestment movement for Palestinian human rights? So do the following candidates for ASUC (Cal student government) office, all of whom are strong allies of Students for Justice in Palestine. Your vote WILL bring to ASUC the people who will advocate for justice in Palestine, so VOTE at http://election.asuc.org/ from TODAY, Tuesday April 9, at 9:00 AM until 11:59 PM on Thursday (April 11). The ASUC uses ranked-choice voting, so candidates should be be ordered in terms of preference (#1, #2, #3) to ensure your vote counts! PRESIDENT 1. DeeJay Pepito, CalSERVE http://www.calserve.org/deejay/ SENATE 1. Talïah Mirmalek, #119, Independent and SJP member https://www.facebook.com/Taliah4Senate 2. Naweed Mohabbat, #116, Independent https://www.facebook.com/Naweed4Senate 3. Briana Mullen, #123, CalSERVE, or Solomon Nwoche, #137, Independent Campaign for Common Sense EXTERNAL AFFAIRS VICE PRESIDENT 1. Spencer Pritchard, CalSERVE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT 1. Nolan Pack, CalSERVE ACADEMIC AFFAIRS VICE PRESIDENT 1. Valerie Jameson, CalSERVE
Tom's announcement from the 2012 election follows:Do you support UC divestment from companies that enable Israel's illegal and racist occupation?So do the following candidates for ASUC office, all of whom are strong allies of Students for Justice in Palestine.VOTE at http://election.asuc.org/ from Tuesday April 10 9:00 AM until 11:59 PM on Thurs. April 12The ASUC uses ranked-choice voting, so candidates should be be ordered in terms of preference (#1, #2, #3) to ensure your vote counts.PRESIDENT1. Andy Albright, CalSERVEhttp://www.calserve.org/andrew-albright-for-asuc-president/SENATE1. Sadia Saifuddin, #138 Independenthttps://www.facebook.com/SadiaSaifuddin138ForASUCSenate2. George Kadifa, #186 SJP member, Student Action3. Isaac Kreisman #205, Students for a Democratic University (SDU)4. Deejay Pepito #184, CalSERVEEXTERNAL AFFAIRS VICE PRESIDENTWe are fortunate to have three candidates running for this position who support SJP's goals (a sign of the successful work we've done on campus): Isabel Sausjord (SDU), Sydney Fang (CalSERVE), and Shahryar Abassi (Student Action).Isabel, however, is a current and active member of SJP.EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTCandidates from both CalSERVE Anthony Galace and SDU James Chang are allies.ACADEMIC VICE PRESIDENTCandidates from both SDU Frank Luna and CalSERVE Naomi Wilson are allies.

Notice the difference in the language. In 2012 , Tom wrote "Do you support UC divestment from companies that enable Israel's illegal and racist occupation?" This year he couches the same movement in quite different terms , in the language of human rights, asking instead "Do you support the nonviolent divestment movement for Palestinian human rights?"

The BDS movement hasn't changed. Why has the marketing- the selling of the movement- changed? Dispel any notion that this is a grass roots, student lead movement- its actually highly orchestrated and well funded. There are BDS boot camps. BDS conferences. And there are professional BDS activists and trainers. The Divest Now handbook for Student Divestment campaigns specifically admonishes students "to be deliberate in the language they use to frame divestment...", and warns them not to confuse people with actual history or current politics.

Tom's betting on the proposition that its easier to sell the uninitiated on "human rights" rather than on frothing at the mouth Israel hate. He might be right. We'll see soon enough. The ASUC- the student Senate at UC Berkeley will be examining divesting from Israel this week

4 comments:

Senator Donna-Jo (DeeJay) Pepito was elected and has run in this years presidential campaign. Senator George Kadifa also won, and drafted this years divestment bill. Senator Sadia Saifuddin also won.Less than half of registered undergrads vote in campus elections, (and only around 5% of grad students vote) so it is very easy for special interest groups such as SJP to gain control.

At the Al Awda Conference a few years back, the organizers promoted their plan for pushing divestment in California Lina Othman, head of the group’s outreach department, explained how the UC Divestment program had developed a campus-wide network in California tailored for each campus community. For example, she explained, the climate at UC Berkeley might be different than the one at San Diego State when it came to divesting from the Jewish state.

Othman epitomized the use of deception by the divestment movement just as Al Awda uses in giving such conferences. Othman told us how SDSU had already three SJP members on the Student Council and they were gunning for ten including the Student Body Presidency. Once they had control of the campus, she explained, they would then institute a campus-wide policy.

Daddy Issues, maybe? George Kadifa is SJP member and a member of Student Action. He lead the fight to have Cal divest from HP, where his dearest darling Daddy is a VP. Georgie Porgie is proposing boycotting the very same company that pays for his tuition. If Boycotts begin at home George, why don't you work on daddy, first? Hypocrites of the world, unite